Josh Leivo is OHL Player of the Week

We had a shift-by-shift look at Josh Leivo and one of his goals from Saturday up on the site yesterday. On Sunday, Leivo went out and scored a hat trick for the Sudbury Wolves, leading them over the 67’s and earning him OHL’s Player of the Week honours in the process. His performance included two brilliant individual efforts that really wowed onlookers. Leivo also scored twice on the Thursday against Peterborough.

It’s important to temper expectations and keep the odds in mind of these mid to lower round picks (Leivo was a third in 2011) becoming NHLers let alone higher end ones, but this is a prospect I’m getting pretty excited about. His combination of size and a gifted set of hands is intriguing.The fact that he’s willing to drop the gloves and work hard killing penalties just about completes the Leafs fan wet dream.

Always be weary of the big picture when a 19-year-old posts big junior numbers, but you never know; Leivo was a late birthday and perhaps the Leafs found a player here who needed the extra time beyond his draft season to really harness the tools at his disposal.

The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Josh Leivo of the Sudbury Wolves is the OHL Player of the Week for the week ending October 7 after scoring six goals in three games with a plus-minus rating of plus-5.

Leivo helped lead the Wolves to three straight road wins beginning Thursday night in Peterborough where he scored twice including the game-winner as first star of a 4-1 win over the Petes. The Wolves continued their East Division road swing on Saturday in Kingston against the Frontenacs where Leivo scored the game-tying goal midway through the third period setting up a 3-2 victory. In the leagueâ€™s only contest on Sunday the Wolves wrapped up their road trip with a 6-4 win over the Ottawa 67â€™s with Leivo recording his second career hat-trick netting the game-winner as first star of the win.

Leivo, a 19-year-old from Innisfil, ON, is playing in his third OHL season with the Wolves. A third round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Leivo is currently tied for the OHL-lead with seven goals after scoring 32 last season as part of a 73-point campaign.

Alec Brownscombe is the founder of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He was also the editor of the 2009-13 Maple Leafs Annual magazines. You can contact him at [email protected]